R.I.P. Bill Walton

Bill Walton, the 6’11’’ center who won two NCAA Basketball Championships with UCLA and two NBA Championships with the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics, died May 27, 2024 after a battle with cancer. He was 71.

Walton was part of two of legendary basketball coach John Wooden’s dynasty of UCLA champions, playing for the 1972 and 1973 champions. In the 1972 championship game, Walton led the Bruins with 24 points and 20 rebounds in UCLA’s 81-76 victory over Florida State. In 1973, Walton was an incredible 21 of 22 from the field, scoring 44 points (in an era of no three point baskets or dunking in college basketball) to lead UCLA to a dominating 87-66 win over Memphis (at that time, Memphis State). Walton also grabbed a game high 13 rebounds. Both of those UCLA teams were undefeated.

Here’s a look at his college basketball career:

Walton was drafted #1 overall in the 1974 NBA draft by the Portland Trailblazers, and led the team to its only NBA title in 1977. Walton’s NBA career would be hampered by injuries, mostly serious foot injuries. He played in just 35 games his first season and 51 in his second. In the ’76-’77 season, Walton played in 65 games, averaging 18.6 points per game, and led the NBA with 14.4 rebounds per game and 3.2 blocked shots. He finished 2nd in the MVP voting, and was voted to the league’s All Defensive Team. In the ’76-’77 championship season for the Trailblazers, Walton was again on the All Defensive Team, but this time he was also the MVP (despite playing just 58 games) averaging 18.9 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. He was also the Finals MVP averaging 18.2 points, 15.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 3.4 blocks per game over 19 playoff games.

Walton missed the entire 1978-79 season due to foot injuries, was traded to the then San Diego Clippers, and played in just 14 games in 1979-80. He missed the next two seasons, again due to foot injuries. He played in 33 games in 1982-83, 55 games in 1983-84, and 67 games in his final season (1984-85) with the Clippers (who had relocated to Los Angeles that season).

After the 1984-85 season, Walton was traded to the Boston Celtics. Walton played in a career high 80 games, all but two off the bench, and averaged 7.6 points, and 6.8 rebounds. He was awarded the Sixth Man of the Year honors, and was a vital part of the Celtics’ NBA Champions that year, a team that included Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale. But injuries took their toll again in 1986-87, and Walton played in just 10 games, and that was the end of his playing career. Walton was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.

He wasn’t done with basketball, becoming a broadcaster for both the NBA and college basketball. His style could be described as enthusiastic and happy go lucky, combining game analysis with observations of everything under the sun, from bicycling in the Joshua Tree National Monument to his love of the Grateful Dead’s music. He won an Emmy Award in 2001. With the impending breakup of his beloved Pac-12 this fall (including UCLA moving to the Big Ten) perhaps it is poetic that one of the league’s greatest ever basketball stars is moving on, too.